Christine Woodrow

Commodification, Corporatisation and Children's Spaces.

For increasing numbers of Australian children, childcare is part of their everyday experiences. The marketisation and corporatisation of education have been under discussion for some time, particularly in relation to schooling. There has been comparatively little public scrutiny of how this trend might impact on, and shape Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). This article explores the existing and potential impacts of privatisation and corporatisation of ECEC in terms of how these constrain and are reshaping the vision and the practice of what is done for children in the prior-to-school sector.

(Re)Positioning the child in the policy/politics of early childhood

How a community constructs the notion of childhood and the child is fundamentally implicated in the practices and policies of that community. This article explores the positioning of the child in historical, contemporary and emerging trends in the provision and practices of Australian early childhood education and care. It argues that if left uncontested, emerging contemporary constructions have the potential to normalise policies, practices and pedagogies derived from a commercialised view of childhood. Drawing on the experiences and practices of early childhood pedagogues and policy actors both in Australia and overseas the authors posit an alternative construction of the child as citizen and the possibility of the early childhood field as a site for the practice of democracy.

Discourses of Professional Identity in Early Childhood: Movements in Australia.

ABSTRACT The provision of early childhood education and care for children and families has received unprecedented community attention in recent times. In the resulting policy flows, competing and contradictory discourses of professional identity have emerged. In part, these are also shaped by dominant political and economic discourses, and interact with existing and emerging discourses of professionalism within the early childhood sector to both constrain and expand possible professional identities. This article explores some dimensions of these policy trajectories, in particular the increasingly dominant presence of corporatised childcare, and recent strategies to regulate early childhood teachers and courses. The potential impact of these on conceptualisations of professional identity in the Australian context is discussed, and frameworks of caring, reconceptualised leadership and the concept of ‘robust hope’ are signposted as possible conceptual resources for building robust early childhood professional identities. RÉSUMÉ: L’offre en matière d’éducation et d’accueil des jeunes enfants et de leurs familles a suscité ces derniers temps une attention sans précédent de la communauté. Il en résulte, sur le plan politique, une émergence de discours concurents et contradictoires sur l’identité professionnelle. Ceux‐ci sont en partie également influencés par les discours politiques et économiques dominants. Ils interagissent avec les discours existants et émergents sur le professionnalisme dans le secteur de la petite enfance qui limitent ou élargissent les identités professionnelles possibles. Cet article examine quelques dimensions de ces développements politiques et leur impact sur les conceptualisations d’identité professionnelle dans le contexte politique australien. Il inclut une analyse de l’impact potentiel de la présence grandissante du corporatisme dans l’accueil des jeunes enfants et des règlementations récentes concernant les enseignants et le préscolaire. La partie finale de cette contribution se termine par une prise en considération de cadres pour l’accueil, d’une direction reconceptualisée et du concept d’espoir puissant, comme ressources conceptuelles possibles pour la construction d’identités professionnelles solides dans le champ de la petite enfance. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG: Angebote der Bildung und Betreuung für junge Kinder und ihre Familien haben in letzter Zeit mehr öffentliche Aufmerksamkeit erfahren als je zuvor. Aus der daraus resultierenden politischen Debatte haben sich konkurrierende und widersprüchliche Diskurse zur professionellen Identität herausgebildet. Sie sind, in Teilen, von vorherrschenden politischen und ökonomischen Diskursen beeinflusst und stehen in Wechselwirkung mit bestehenden und neu entstehenden Diskursen zur Professionalität innerhalb der Frühpädagogik. Mögliche professionelle Identitäten werden in diesen Diskursen sowohl beschränkt als auch befördert. Dieser Beitrag untersucht einige Dimensionen dieser politischen Entwicklungen und ihre Auswirkungen auf Konzeptualisierungen professioneller Identität im australischen Kontext. Diskutiert werden auch die möglichen Auswirkungen der sich zunehmend ausbreitenden kommerziellen Betreuungsangebote, sowie aktuelle Regulierungsbestrebungen für Praxis und Ausbildung. Der Artikel schließt mit einem Ausblick auf Betreuung, neu gedachte Führungsinitiative und einem Konzept starker Hoffnung als mögliche Quellen zur Herausbildung starker professioneller Identitäten in der Frühpädagogik. RESUMEN: El suministro de educación pre‐escolar para niños y familias ha recibido en el último tiempo de parte de la comunidad una atención sin precedentes. En las políticas resultantes han emergido discursos de identidad profesional concurrentes y contradictorios. En parte, esos son también formados por los discursos políticos y económicos dominantes, e interactúan con discursos de profesionalismos existentes y emergentes dentro del sector pre‐escolar, para contraer y expandir posibles identidades profesionales. El artículo explora algunas dimensiones de esas trayectorias políticas, y su impacto sobre conceptualizaciones de identidad profesional, en el contexto político australiano. La discusión incluye exploración del impacto potencial que la presencia, en constante aumento, de formas corporacionales del cuidado de niños, y de estrategias recientes para regularizar cursos y profesores pre‐escolares. La parte final del articulo señaliza y considera marcos de referencias del cuidado de niños, reconceptualiza el liderazgo y el concepto de esperanza robusta como posibles recursos conceptuales para formar identidades profesionales pre‐escolares robustas.

Discourses of the Early Years Learning Framework: constructing the early childhood professional

In Australia, as elsewhere, many factors have contributed to making the struggle for recognition of the professional status of early childhood difficult and ongoing. Arguably this has led to instabilities surrounding professional identity and how members of the field regard themselves and their work. The development and release of the Early Years Learning Framework for Australia (EYLF) was perceived by many as an opportunity to raise the status and standing of the early childhood professional within the early childhood field itself and in the wider community. The EYLF positions all those who work directly with children in early childhood settings as ‘educators’, and sets out the expectations for childrens learning and what educators can do to promote that learning. In doing so, the EYLF produces, reproduces and circulates both new and familiar discourses of early childhood education. In this article, the authors draw on research capturing the perceptions of the early childhood practitioners who took part in the trial of the EYLF across Australia in 2009 to investigate whether and how curriculum interventions such as the EYLF have the potential to shape/reshape early childhood professional identity. Utilising the concepts of discourse, subjectivity, power-knowledge and agency, the authors explore the possibilities and dangers of the construction of an early childhood professional identity in and through the EYLF.

Repositioning early childhood leadership as action and activism

ABSTRACT Robust leadership is increasingly recognised as a critical element of healthy professions, yet some research suggests that early childhood practitioners do not readily identify with the concept of leadership. This article explores some dimensions of leadership in early childhood and how it is understood and practised in Australian early childhood contexts. The analysis suggests that the dominant images of leadership in the wider community and the discourses of early childhood, together with increasing control of the profession through mandated curriculum and auditing and the rise of corporate childcare and commodified children’s services, militate against the realisation of a strong leadership identity. Resources emerging from feminist work in the area of leadership, ethics and professionalism provide new opportunities to reconceptualise leadership through activism and engagement. Such a shift has implications for how we might reconstruct the professional preparation of early childhood teachers through projects of action and activism. The article concludes with an outline of a pilot project involving pre‐service teachers in a project of community engagement in which aspects of a ‘new leadership’ are practised. RÉSUMÉ: Une notion solide de la direction est de plus en plus reconnue comme une dimension professionnelle essentielle, toutefois des études indiquent que les praticiens de la petite enfance ne la saisissent pas encore vraiment. Cet article porte sur quelques aspects de cette notion dans le champ de la petite enfance et sur la façon dont elle est comprise et mise en pratique dans les services préscolaires australiens. L’analyse montre que la représentation dominante, au niveau de la communauté comme dans le discours sur la petite enfance, avec l’augmentation du contrôle de la profession par le curriculum et les audits, fait obstacle à la mise en oeuvre d’une définition forte de cette notion de direction. Les apports des travaux féministes dans ce champ et dans celui de l’éthique et du professionnalisme offrent de nouvelles occasions pour reconceptualiser cette notion à travers celles d’activisme et d’engagement. Le changement de perspectives apporté a des implications sur la façon dont nous pourrions reconstruire la formation professionnelle des praticiens de la petite enfance grâce à des projets d’action et à l’activisme. L’article conclut avec la présentation d’une étude pilote impliquant des professionnels en formation dans un projet qui engage la communauté et dans lequel des aspects d’une ‘nouvelle direction’ sont mis en pratique. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG: Belastbare Leitung wird zunehmend als wesentliches Element der Gesundheitsberufe erkannt, wenn auch Forschung darauf hindeutet, dass frühpädagogische PraktikerInnen sich nicht allzu bereitwillig mit dem Konzept von Führung identifizieren. Dies Papier untersucht einige Dimension von Führung im frühpädagogischen Bereich und wie diese in Australien auf diesem Gebiet verstanden und praktiziert werden. Die Analyse legt nahe, dass die vorherrschenden Bilder von Führung in der weiteren Gemeinschaft und im Diskurs über frühe Kindheit in Verbindung mit einer zunehmenden Kontrolle des Berufs über Anordnungen von Curriculum und Überprüfungen, mit dem Anwachsen von Unternehmenskindertagesstätten sowie kommerzialisierter Dienstleistungsangebote einer Realisierung von starker Leitungs‐ und Führungsidentität widerstreiten. Ressourcen aus feministischer Arbeit auf dem Gebiet von Führung und Leitung, Ethik und Professionalismus eröffnen neue Möglichkeiten, durch Handeln und Engagement eine Neukonzeptualisierung von Leitung und Führung zu leisten. Eine solche Veränderung hat Implikationen dafür, wie die professionelle Vorbereitung frühpädagogischer Fachkräfte über Handlungsprojekte neu konstruiert werden kann. Das Papier schließt mit der Kurzdarstellung eines Pilotprojektes mit in Ausbildung befindlichen Fachkräften im Rahmen eines Projektes zu gesellschaftlichem Engagement, in welchem Aspekte einer “neuen Leitung und Führung’ praktiziert werden. RESUMEN: Un sólido y fuerte sentido de liderazgo es reconocido cada vez mas como un elemento crítico en profesiones saludables, sin embargo algunas investigaciones sugieren que los profesionales de la temprana edad no se identifican fácilmente con el concepto de liderazgo. Este documento explora algunas de las dimensiones del liderazgo en la infancia y como es entendido y practicado en los contextos de la temprana edad Australianos. El análisis sugiere que las imágenes dominantes de liderazgo en esta amplia comunidad, y los tratados de temprana edad junto con el creciente control a través de currículos de mandato, auditorías y el incremento del cuidado infantil corporativo y servicios infantiles comercializados van en contra de la comprensión de una fuerte identidad de liderazgo. Los recursos que emergen de los trabajos feministas en el área del liderazgo, ética y profesionalismo, ofrecen nuevas oportunidades para visualizar este a través de activismo y compromiso. Semejante cambio ha dado como resultado implicaciones acerca de cómo debemos reconstruir la preparación profesional para profesores de la temprana edad a través de proyectos de acción y activismo. El documento concluye con un resumen de un proyecto piloto que involucra a profesores pre‐servicio en un proyecto de participación comunitaria en el cual los aspectos de ‘nuevo liderazgo’ son practicados.

Robust Hope and Teacher Education Policy

The research question for this paper is: How can we mobilise robust hope in the analysis of teacher education policy? Specifically, this paper asks how a robust hope framework might speak to the Top of the Class, a report into teacher education by the Australian House of Representatives Standing Committee on Education and Vocational Training.

Super dimensions in globalisation and education

This chapter will introduce and explain the super dimensions in globalisation and education that this book explores. These (super) dimensions permeate all educational practice, yet are often invisible, or not adequately considered by educationalists and researchers alike. On one side of the equation, is the superdiversity as explored by Vertovec in the 2000s in the UK, and which has been recently taken up by globalised educational researchers, especially in terms of linguistic and literacy research. Superdiversity points to the ‘diversity in diversity’, and the ways in which the current globalised situation puts continual pressure on stable identity construction and the analysis of ethnicity, race, nationhood, migration status, and other social markers. On the other side of the equation is the supercomplexity of the current globalised situation. Theoretical frames seem inadequate almost as quickly as they are prepared, presented and articulated, due to the rapidly changing conditions. The comprehension of globalisation in education therefore benefits from a supercomplex framing; i.e. an analysis of the ‘complexity of complexity’ if it is to in any way apprehend ‘the truth’ of what is happening.

Revisioning professionalism from the periphery

Abstract The issue of who should be included and recognised as professionals in the early childhood education and care (ECEC) service system is both contested and pressing in the current policy climate. At stake is a high-quality early childhood care and education service system that is both responsive and appropriate to the constituency it serves. A review of the history of ECEC professionalism reveals complex entanglements and debates regarding professional belonging. Services that deliver education and care to children and families living in high poverty contexts are often excluded from ECEC professionalism debates. Drawing on notions of rationality, emotionality and criticality presented in recent accounts of ECEC professionalism, we use data collected from interviews with service providers delivering services to children and families living in high poverty contexts in Australia to develop an account of criticality that is pertinent to current funding and policy contexts. We argue that these service providers’ perspectives about their own professionalism have much to offer broader debates.

Relationships, Reflexivity and Renewal: Professional Practice in Action in an Australian Children’s Centre

Accounts of early childhood professional practice provide important insights into issues being experienced by a field that is undergoing rapid change and receiving unprecedented policy attention. The findings from this snapshot of professional practice in context contribute to a developing evidence base of issues and challenges for professionalism in this rapidly changing field. The data keenly illustrate the relational dimension of an early childhood educator’s work, highlighting the ethical and moral purpose in her work with colleagues, parents and children. Understandings of professionalism that emerged in this study highlight: the interweaving of a personal and professional learning journey; the important role played by ongoing opportunities for professional learning in building leadership capability; and struggles encountered in building a shared sense of what it means to be professional within and across individual sites.

Marketisation, Elite Education and Internationalisation in Australian Early Childhood Education and Care

Over the past quarter of a century, the childcare component of Australian early childhood education and care (ECEC) has transformed from a publicly funded, community-based system to a predominantly commercial enterprise. The associated marketisation of ECEC has given rise to widespread claims of educational excellence, but the creation of an elite ECEC sector is only nascent. Additionally, the internationalisation and intercultural competence evident in ECEC is rooted in Australian multicultural policy and philosophical commitments to cultural inclusion, rather than the promotion of cultural agility through the internationalisation of elite ECEC in global childcare markets. Thus the relationship between the market, elite education and internationalisation in early childhood education is, in many ways, distinct from the interplay of these forces within other education sectors.